Euphorbia sekukuniensis

The Sekhukhune euphorbia, as Euphorbia sekukuniensis is commonly known, is a small tree euphorbia in candelabra shape reaching heights around 7 m (SA Tree List No. 353).

The tree grows only in and near the Steelpoort River basin in a small distribution near the border between Limpopo and Mpumalanga, more into the former province.

The habitat is rocky hillsides, cliffs and ravines, often among dense or mixed savanna bush. E. sekukuniensis is deemed rare early in the twenty first century although not threatened as its population is stable. Several subpopulations occur in inaccessible terrain where farming and other human activities are not expected to impact severely.

The vegetation is well illustrated by the photo of the land where old King Sekhukhune once reigned over his Marota (Bapedi) people. Sekhukhune stole the throne from his half-brother, Mampuru, the legitimate heir, by military conquests and cleverly manoeuvred royal marriages.

Mampuru murdered Sekhukhune in 1882 after a large and prospering kingdom had been developed by Sekhukhune. Mampuru was hanged in Pretoria for this and for insurrection against the Boers of the ZAR. Soon the Sekhukhuneland developed by one remarkably talented although flawed leader was no more.

It is ironic that neither the brother nor the tribe received as much prominence as the usurper in the names recognising plant and place over a century later (Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 2017; Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist; www.sahistory.org.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).